Secretary General meets with Romanian President and Prime Minister, visits NATO troops

Following the Secretary General’s meeting with President Iohannis, at which the two discussed how NATO is responding to the challenges NATO faces, Mr. Stoltenberg thanked Romania for its many contributions to the Alliance – including its continuing support for NATO’s missions in Afghanistan and Kosovo, and its hosting of a new multinational brigade. He also praised the Romanian government’s announcement that it will meet the NATO target of spending 2% of GDP on defence this year; Romania is “leading by example”, he said, “helping to give the Alliance the capabilities we need, and ensuring fairer-burden-sharing”.

The Secretary General also met with Prime Minister Mihai Tudose. Speaking alongside the Prime Minister at a joint press conference, Mr Stoltenberg acknowledged the “steadfast contributions” Romania makes to NATO on issues as diverse as cyber-defence and ballistic missile defence. He also restated his congratulations to Romania for its announcement on defence spending, saying that the decision “will strengthen the defences of Romania” and “strengthen NATO”.

Following his meetings in Bucharest, the Secretary General travelled with President Iohannis to visit troops serving in the new multinational brigade based at Craiova as part of NATO’s tailored Forward presence in the South-east of the Alliance. The unit, which includes troops from Romania and Poland, is helping to coordinate Allied training and exercises in the region. Bulgaria, Canada, Germany, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, and Spain are also providing staff to the brigade headquarters.